Need help choosing bulbs

[cichlidfish]

I have a 150g which I think is about 24" deep. Have a 4' florecent double bulb fixture (plan to upgrade in the future) and I need help choosing which bulbs would give me the most light for the plants I have. I'm not sure if I can use T8 or T5 florecents.
The plants are hornwort, anubas, and amazon swords. I know these are low light plants, but they are not growing like they should.

 

[Shenanigans]

Im running two, CFL bulbs on a ten gallon. a combined 46 watts, 4650 lumens. the plants are exploding and there are actually streams of oxygen bubbles being produced from all plants. I like these bulbs alot, much better than the hood lights or T8s that I was using

 

[JamesF]

At 24" deep you're going to either need a huge bank of fluorescents, or you need to look into T5 high out put or power compact lighting. LED is another option, but is very pricey up front.

 

[cichlidfish]

I know I need to upgrade, but even w/ the low light plants? I'm giving up on the swords because my cichlids have eaten most of them.
I like LEDs but you need a lot of them for plant growth. From what I hear they aren't the best for plants.
Actually I have a 150 watt MH for saltwater corals, but I don't know if that would create too much heat for the fish. It is a clip on that would hang about 6" from the surface of the water.


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[JamesF]

I wouldn't consider a sword a low light plant. Even hornwort likes a fair amount unless it's floating. I have three 20 watt LEDs on my 130 and it's a jungle.
The MH won't create too much heat, but it will overdrive the system making CO2 injection necessary.